Clockwork March
by Takato Metallium
Summary: AU. All it took was one moment to go horribly wrong. All it took was for a simple curse to have been placed on the treasure of the Pirate King. Now Monkey D. Luffy and his Mugiwara Kaizokudan travel the Grand Line, leaving nothing but death in their wake.


Word of the Pirate King's capture travelled fast along the Grand Line. News had it that he and two of his followers had been caught by the Marine's first division, and were currently being held in Impel Down until a public execution date was made.

A dark-skinned figure slipped down the streets of Water 7, ignoring the citizens around him as he brushed past them in his haste, the sack slung over his shoulder a large one that he carried with ease. He entered another sideway before looking around, flipping up the manhole cover and slipping down after sliding it back across like it hadn't been misplaced at all.

Heavily booted feet splashed along through the waterways, one of his hands placed on the wall as he hugged the darkness of the sewer system like it was his only comfort. Finally, he came to a light at the end of the tunnel, stepping onto a balcony and jumping down from it to the room below.

Usopp flinched as he felt Sanji's boot rest against his throat, looking at the chef with distrust dancing in his eyes as the blond man stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Password," Sanji grunted out, taking hold of the cigarette between his lips and flicking ash away.

"Long live the Pirate King." The curly-haired marksman sighed in relief when Sanji pulled his foot away, standing properly and dumping his sack on the floor of their temporary home. The sound of heels clicking against the bricks alerted the both of them to Nami's presence as she approached with her arms crossed under her chest.

"Did you get the goods?"

"700 kilos of gunpowder, just like you ordered." Usopp patted the sack as though proud of it, reaching into his back pocket and handing her a wad of bills – the change. He then reached into the sack and took out a separate bag, handing it to Sanji. "And tonight's dinner."

The chef took hold of the sack with a smirk, and then walked off to their makeshift kitchen, but not before giving Nami a blown kiss and a promise that tonight's dinner would be special. Usopp pulled something else from his back pocket – the newspaper – and handed the rolled up sheets to Nami. "There's been an execution date announced. Two weeks from now, at Impel Down, and it will be broadcast all over the world."

Nami eyed the headlines in the paper and looked at him out the corner of her eye. "I'll have Franky upgrade Sunny in preparation. I want you to make several bombs with the gunpowder that we can use, and we'll work out our plan of attack closer to the date."

"Understood." Usopp inclined his head, picking up the sack of gunpowder again and slung it over his shoulder, heading to his room just as Chopper came up and inquired as to any injuries he might have received on his trip upstairs.

Nami sighed and sat down in a makeshift chair, leaning back against the wall of their temporary home as she unfolded the paper and began to read. The trouble they went through to rescue their captain…

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**Clockwork March  
**Written by Takato Metallium  
Beta-ed by Saiyako  
**WARNINGS:** blood, gore, death, insanity, schizophrenia, mentions of abuse. Please do take these warnings SERIOUSLY.  
_Plot:_ AU. All it took was one moment to go horribly wrong. All it took was for a simple curse to have been placed on the treasure of the Pirate King. Now Monkey D. Luffy and his Mugiwara Kaizokudan travel the Grand Line, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake…  
_Disclaimer:_ I disclaim all rights to One Piece, as it belongs to Eiichiro Oda. Title was taken from Dolly's song 'Clockwork March' off their _jewel's dRIP_ album. I only own the fic, the idea and not much else.  
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Footsteps echoed down the corridor of Impel Down, the sounds of water dripping from a leak somewhere in the distance beyond. His two lieutenants flanking him, Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp passed pirate after pirate, villain after villain, turning the winding and dark corridors of the prison. His lips pursed around his cigar, exhaling smoke from the other corner of his mouth in a huff as he crossed his arms over his chest and his brow furrowed in thought. It had taken a long time to convince the Government to let him see this prisoner, and even now Impel Down was under heavy guard because of the execution to be held soon.

Finally reaching the cell that was in the deepest, darkest corner of the prison, Garp and his lieutenants turned to view the captive from where he hung, wrists limp in the Kairouseki handcuffs hanging from the chains that attached them to the grimy walls. Dark eyes opened and looked up from beyond damp hair, and a wide, cruel grin curled on the prisoner's lips.

"…Hey, old man."

It amazed Garp how much Luffy had changed over the years, from the happy young boy he knew even with the training he had put his grandsons through, to this…this…

Madman was the only way possible to describe him. Luffy's eyes watched him from behind his dark locks of hair with something that could really only be described as insanity, and a dark hunger Garp couldn't begin to understand. They danced with a wanton lust for destruction, looking at him as though he was calculating his next move, which would not be anything really, given the heavy chains holding him down and the cell made of Kairouseki. Luffy had never been much of a thinker, and that had ultimately led him to this prison.

Garp and his fleet had caught up with the Mugiwara Kaizokudan when reports of Luffy's slaughter of Arabasta had flickered through the Den-Den Mushi channel. Only a few of them had slipped through his fingers, but they had successfully managed to capture Luffy, his swordsman and his archaeologist.

He had been too late to save Ace, however. Luffy had killed his older brother in a one-on-one battle on the outskirts of Alubarna, in cold blood, and that was how Garp had found his grandson, covered in blood and hovering over Ace's body like a vulture.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Luffy barked out a laugh, which turned into a raspy cough, throat dry from no water.

"Luffy-san…" Garp shot a look out the corner of his eye at Koby, and his lieutenant shuddered and took a step back, looking as though he was going to throw up at the sight before him. The Vice Admiral nodded his permission to Helmeppo, and the blond took hold of his friend by the arm, leading him away.

Garp sighed, shaking his head at the sound of retching further down the corridor. The brick walls of Impel Down carried sounds much further than what they were. "I told you years ago that One Piece would be your undoing. And look at where ignoring me got you."

He rolled his eyes, still grinning madly even as he wet his lips, tugging a little at his restraints even though he knew it was no use. He just wanted to see the old man drenched in his own blood, calling out in pain. "Oh spare me," Luffy spat, the mad grin curling into a cruel snarl as he glared from behind his hair at Garp. "If you really knew, then you should have killed me years ago, old man. If you knew what I would become, then you should have slit my throat in my sleep when I was a child."

But Garp had not. He might have been hard on his boys in training, but he was still soft on the inside for his grandsons. He had thought about it many times, of course, but had never been able to bring himself to actually kill Luffy. He had seen the madness reflected in Roger's eyes when he – just a lieutenant back then – had watched the execution and Roger's exclamation that led to the Golden Age, he knew what One Piece did to those that found its glory. He should have snuck into Luffy's room when the boy was small and killed him in his sleep when that blasted Shanks had begun filling his head with idiotic dreams.

But he hadn't.

He had set this monster upon the world, had caused so many villages and kingdoms to be slaughtered, all in the name of the Pirate King.

Yes, Garp blamed himself.

"Your execution will be in two days. Just thought you should know so you can start praying to God." With one final look, Garp turned away from the monster that was once his grandson and walks back down through the corridors, picking up Koby and Helmeppo along the way who walked behind him as though nothing had happened, as though his pink-haired lieutenant hadn't run away at the sight of his hero chained like a madman in a cage.

Luffy's hyena-like laughter followed them, echoing through the hallways of Impel Down and sending cold chills through the bodies of all who heard it.

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Zoro woke himself up with a snort, one eye opening to peer around at the darkness of his cell before he returned to his slumber, arms behind his back because of the handcuffs, and missing the familiar weight of his katana. There wasn't much else to do but sleep in these dungeons, not that he minded. Silently he wondered how everyone else was doing before he nestled back down against the wall, about to close his eyes when…

BOOM

An explosion rocked the floor he was situated on, startling him awake just in time to stop himself from falling face-first on the floor. Slender fingers graced his handcuffed wrists and he brought his foot back to slam it into the guy's gut before a familiar voice hissed out. "Stop struggling. I'm here to rescue you, baka."

His tense muscles relaxed a little at Usopp's voice, hearing a clicking sound as the marksman worked with a hairclip to undo the handcuffs. The sound of heavily falling footsteps echoed down the corridor and Usopp swore, then grinned and poked his tongue out as the cuffs fell free.

Zoro flexed his wrists as he sat upright, nodding his thanks to his crewmate before hefting himself up from the floor as Usopp did the same, the curly-haired teen springing to the blown-apart doorway where Chopper stood guard, the tiny reindeer holding something familiar between his hooves.

Zoro's katana.

The green-haired swordsman took them gratefully from Chopper's tiny arms, feeling their weight in his calloused hands. Sandai Kitetsu gleamed wickedly at him as he slid her from her sheath, ready to cut through more bodies in her wanton lust. Wadou Ichimonji cooed her soothing song, whispering in his ear that they should be taught a lesson for keeping him locked up.

The guards approached and Usopp twirled his 5-tonne hammer around in his hand before gripping the handle and swinging it at them violently, putting his weight behind the swing that caused the hammer to crash through the bricks and bars that made up the fourth level of Impel Down, the sound of shattering bones filling their ears. He crouched, retracting the hammer back to his side before the sound of screaming caught his ear and he looked over his shoulder.

An insane smile graced Zoro's face as he slashed Kitetsu through the body of one guard, having severed several of his body parts beforehand, and he turned to another, taking hold of him roughly by the arm and driving Kitetsu through one of his eyes, laughing as he watched the guard grapple for something to hold onto and finding only the blade, a blood-curdling scream leaving his throat.

Usopp smirked darkly, standing from his crouched position and throwing his hammer over his shoulder, hazel eyes gleaming in the dim light as Chopper stood near his legs, the innocent little reindeer hiding. "Welcome back, Zoro-sama…"

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The explosion on the floor above him rocked the prison, and Luffy looked up from where his head was hanging, dark psychotic eyes darting around. A wide grin split his lips, vastly different from any he might have smiled before and he called out to the guard, teeth bared viciously. "Na, Koby…let me out of here, ne? If you do, I'll spare you for old time's sake."

The pink-haired lieutenant stiffened at the call of his name and refused to look over his shoulder, instead staring ahead at the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I will not be bribed, Luffy-san. The Mugiwara Kaizokudan will be captured and the prisoners Roronoa Zoro and Nico Robin retained. You will not leave this prison until tomorrow's execution."

"I'll remember those words, lieutenant," the Pirate King purred out, licking his lips as he eyed Koby, wanting so _badly_ to feel torn flesh in his hands, feel his blood running along his hands and hear his cries of pain. "I'll make you repeat them when I kill you."

Koby shivered as he felt a violent urge to vomit rise in his stomach, and nothing more was said between them.

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The explosion woke Robin from her rare chance for slumber, ice blue eyes opening up and darting around her cell like a scared rabbit. She relaxed a little, shifting her arms in the heavy Kairouseki cuffs as she drew herself up on her knees and relaxed back against the walls, listening to the sounds of blood-curdling screams that made her sigh as though in pleasure.

Robin pressed her back against the wall, wishing she could use her Akuma no Mi powers to view the massacre that was happening. Someone had broken Zoro out of his cell, if the mad laughter that reached her ears was any indication. A shadow fell over her cell and she looked up, noticing Franky standing there with a wicked grin on the shipwright's face.

She gave him a sultry smile as the bars of her cell were broken and he stepped through, long dark hair falling over her shoulders to slide down her ample breasts. Evidence of her time in Impel Down was marked over her body, and she bore no shame in the fact that she was naked. Franky rose an eyebrow at the markings, twirling the keys around one of his fingers before undoing her cuffs, kneeling down next to her.

"Who did this to you?" the blue-haired man whispered into her ear, running his tongue along the rim and nipping the lobe with a surprising playfulness. Robin murmured the name of her tormentor to the cyborg and he placed a hand on her thigh, running the tip of his thumb over the bruised skin. "Would you like to see him bathed in his own blood, hanging by his intestines?"

Robin's sultry smile curled wickedly as she wrapped her arms around Franky's shoulders, allowing him to lift her up since her body was far too weak to walk on its own. "You say the sweetest things," she cooed, running her slender fingers along his jaw before following it up with her tongue, licking a fine line to his ear.

Franky smiled a grin that bore his teeth and sat her delicately on his shoulder as they exited the cell, moving off towards the office of the man who had tortured her sexually, mentally and physically as they planned his own torment in whispered voices…

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Koby shuddered as Luffy burst into wild laughter, the sound echoing off the walls of Impel Down. The screams coming from above had stopped, meaning that either Zoro had been stopped and disposed of…

…or there was no one left alive.

"They're coming for me," Luffy sang, the tune having an insane edge to it as he hummed the death march, head tilting from side to side. "You're going to die~"

"Be quiet!" Koby barked, which only earned him more laughter as his face burned red. The sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor made him freeze, turning his head to look.

"_Diable Jambe_."

A vicious fiery kick to the upper jaw sent Koby flying backwards, the sound of cracking bone filling the air as Sanji stepped into view, hands in the pockets of his flaming pants. Nami delicately picked the keys off of Koby's belt, tossing them to the cook as she kept her Climatact firmly on top of the pink-haired lieutenant's chest, her heel pressing into his stomach.

"About time," Luffy purred as Sanji unlocked the cell and entered, chewing on the end of his cigarette as he looked down at his captain. Luffy raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes narrowing and a snarl curling on his lips. "_**Sanji**_…"

His name was said with so much venom that it made the cook visibly wince, the keys shaking in his hand as he knelt and undid Luffy's handcuffs. The Pirate King's wrists flexed as they were released from their hold, and then cold dark eyes met apprehensive blue. A loud smack echoed through the corridor of Level Five and Sanji closed his eyes, his cheek throbbing as sharp nails clawed into his flesh.

"Don't _ever_ look down on me with contempt again, Sanji," Luffy hissed, eyes narrowed so deeply they appeared to be cat-like slits. The cook murmured an apology and his captain let him go, rising to his feet as his bones cricked, joints stiff from not being used.

He stepped out of the cell with his hands in the pockets of his torn pants, mad eyes flickering out the corner of his gaze to look at where Koby was pinned to the floor, a sadistic grin appearing on his lips as he made his way over. Nami bowed her head in respect, sharing his smile as she lifted her Climatact from Koby's prone form but kept her heel on his stomach.

Koby stared up at his former hero, cold beads of sweat beginning to perspire on his brow as he stared up into those dark eyes, feeling as though he was going to lose himself in their intensity. Luffy cracked his fingers, each one individually before the whole hand, and spoke out loud, his voice low and sultry.

"Shall I start your torture by peeling your skin off and dismembering each limb one by one? Or shall I rip your eyes and tongue out and force you to eat them? So many choices, so little time…" He hummed, rocking back and forth on his sandaled feet.

"If I may, Luffy-sama." The dark-haired captain raised an eyebrow at his navigator, nodding his permission for her to continue. Nami licked her lips, leaning upon her weapon of choice as she looked down at Koby with equally dark eyes. "Perhaps we should take him back with us? The ship does need a little slave to do the dirty work after all. You've been talking about wanting a pet for a while. And it's been SO long since I've had the pleasure of torturing someone that I want to take it as slow as possible…with your permission of course." Her body unintentionally rubbed against her Climatact, a silky smile curling on her lips.

He laughed, not the hyena-like laughter from a week ago but a husky sound filled with malice like his eyes as he looked down at the panicking lieutenant – Koby was too frightened to do anything but lay there underneath Nami's heel. "A good suggestion, Nami. Perhaps that would be best for now, since we have so little time to enjoy his sweet torture." Luffy looked over his shoulder at Sanji, who was sulking with a hand to his injured cheek. "Get the handcuffs from my cell and let's get out of here."

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The headlines a week later read '**IMPEL DOWN IN DESPAIR AS PIRATE KING ESCAPES**'. Nami turned the page of the newspaper, relaxing on a lawn chair on the deck as though things were as they had always been. A leash rested in one of her hands, a flushing, naked Koby attached to it with a gag wrapped around his head and handcuffs around his wrists.

He had resisted at first, but the torture had been too much and he had caved in, willing to submit to save his own life. Patches lay across his body where his skin had been peeled off, hisses leaving his throat as the sun hit raw muscle, his back tense and displaying whip marks, bruising and various other signs of abuse.

Luffy was planning their next massacre to announce to the world properly that the Pirate King had returned, using Nami's maps to plot when he wasn't playing with his new toy. He reclined in a chair in the captain's cabin, feet up on the desk lazily as he tossed an apple up and down in his hand, dark eyes narrowed in thought.

He had ordered Usopp to keep a close eye on Sanji, the look the blond had given him in the cell sending alarm messages to his brain about a possible mutiny. His sniper did so with mild amusement, keeping Sanji occupied with various things that Luffy had no care to know about and dragging Chopper along for the ride.

Franky and Robin hadn't come out of Robin's room since their return to the ship, with only Sanji visiting to deliver meals through the cat flap at the bottom of the door and reporting sweet moans of pain and pleasure. Luffy mildly guessed that it was because Robin's pet wanted to reacquaint himself with his mistress, but it was none of his business really.

Zoro was as bloodthirsty as always, and Luffy had let him have Marine after Marine that had followed them since their escape from Impel Down. It was like throwing a dog a bone, or at least that was how Luffy saw it. After all, he couldn't have Zoro killing his crew, so he thought he should be a nice master and at least throw him a few scraps every now and then.

Luffy's hand caught the apple and didn't toss it back up, his eyes staring ahead at nothing before he removed his legs from the desk and stood, tossing a dagger up into the air and biting into the apple just as it hit the map on the desk, the sound of the fruit under his teeth sounding like the crunching of bone if you listened to it closely enough.

Their next destination?

Water 7.

– fin –


End file.
